1. The acronymn of "BACN" can't work because it sounds like "bacon," which isn't kosher (or halal).
Other names: Civic Net Boston, BAANC (Boston Area Assets and Needs Connector), BayNet, Eastern Mass Civic Network, Bay State Civic Network, Boston Area Social and Civic Network (BASCN, pronounced basin), Boston Area Scope (could be an acronym, for "social and community outreach portal")
2. The front page (see below)
We felt that it needs more content, because otherwise people won't know what it is and log on. (Also, it might be good to allow visitors access to some parts of the site without login.) Content that could be added to the homepage would include upcoming events, newly added organizations, sample orgs, student of the week, blog posts, etc.
We didn't like the Google map, because of the aesthetics. Some students would prefer an image such as the Boston skyline. But a map has practical advantages for navigation. Thus a schematic map might work. Note that it must extend as far as Waltham, Medford, and Wellesley.
The tagline is good except that "Bostonite" isn't a word. So replace it with "people."
Students wanted the main login to go first, then the Facebook connect option (mainly because they didn't know what the latter is; an explanation might help).
The color scheme was considered too bold, by everyone. They wanted a more subdued pallette, e.g., grays and blues. But not too much like Facebook.
3. An organization page (see below)
What is the difference between the dashboard and profile?
There should be a search tab.
3. The personal page
"Node" is not a good word for novices, so make it "add to my community."
Remove the "recent activity" section because it might be empty and that gives a bad impression.
Logging service hours is a useful function for students in some programs, but it should be an optional add-in, not a default. Tufts students, for example, would very rarely need or want to log hours.
Contact information should be added. And this is where students could add their service interests?
Is this the place to control one's privacy and notification settings?
Other comments??
I think that our current design has a very serious flaw. The flaw is to require a long-in when the user first arrives at our website.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Facebook, the majority of the content on our social network should be accessible to any user who comes to the site.
If people are comming to the site to find a volunteer opportunity, they should imediately have access to the network map and the organization's pages. It seems that only a limited number of operations would require a user to log in (adding/editing nodes).
We want to make the site as inviting to users as possible. By taking users directly to the map when they type in the URL, no one would be turned away by the process of having to register for yet another website.